(Learfield Sports) — The University of Iowa volleyball team is in its final week of preparation for the upcoming season. Boyd Shamansky is in his fifth year leading the team. “There’s two things that I know at the start of every season. One is that we are going to be better than the year before, and two is that we have a lot of different parts. It’s been an enjoyable preseason for us and now we are at T-minus in getting our team ready to go out there and compete,” Shamansky says.

He says finding out how all the parts fit together is key before they get to the Big Ten season. “It’s the strongest conference in the country, but this year more than ever it’s very different,”Shamansky says. “You have teams that were toward the top last year that graduated a lot of starters. Probably a case in point — Michigan State graduated their entire starting lineup. That’s pretty rare when that happens.”

Shamansky says his team should be able to take advantage of the changes to improve their standing. He says when he first took over they were constantly at the bottom of the league and the last few years have been holding in the eight or nine spot. “Now we need to make another step forward.”  He expects them to take some momentum from their success that last two years. “Back-to-back winning seasons seep into the way that players think of themselves. How they carry themselves, how they train, the discipline that they have, but also just the belief when they go out there and expect to win when they play,” Shamansky says. “It takes a while to convince them that that is what they are capable of. And my belief is not nearly as important as theirs. And when they believe in themselves and each other they tend to get things done,” Shamansky says.

Iowa opens the season August 25th against S-M-U in Nashville, Tennessee.

Officials with Southwest Iowa Golf report the Ryder Tournament in Atlantic for today (8/20) at Nishna Hills Golf Course in Atlantic, has been cancelled due to the weather.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Moustakas hit a two-run double, Jhoulys Chacin beat St. Louis for the first time in his career and the Milwaukee Brewers edged the Cardinals 2-1. Milwaukee (69-57) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved back ahead of St. Louis (68-57) for the second National League wild card.

UNDATED (AP) — A brief surge through the first couple weeks of August was all the St. Louis Cardinals needed to move into clear contention for a postseason spot. St. Louis is 14-4 this month. Matt Carpenter has hit 14 home runs since the All-Star break and leads the National League with 33.

CHICAGO (AP) — Omar Narvaez homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a single, Chicago relievers tossed seven scoreless innings and the White Sox rallied from a six-run deficit for a 7-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Avisail Garcia and Tim Anderson also homered for Chicago. The White Sox have won four of five.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have signed veteran cornerback Orlando Scandrick to a contract for this season that could be worth up to $1.5 million. The move fills an area of need after an offseason overhaul of their secondary. The longtime Cowboys cornerback signed a $10 million, two-year deal with the Redskins in March. Scandrick was released Tuesday and visited the Chiefs this past week.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Third-year Iowa State coach Matt Campbell has a program that suffered through a century of mediocrity in position to win big in the Big 12 and beyond. Campbell has elevated the once-woebegone Cyclones with a roster of overlooked recruits he lovingly refers to as “the island of misfit toys,” according to quarterback Kyle Kempt. The Cyclones went 8-5 and beat Memphis in the Liberty Bowl last December. Iowa State opens the season on Sept. 1 at home against South Dakota State.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jhoulys Chacin had some extra motivation. Mike Moustakas hit a two-run double, giving Chacin all the runs he needed to beat St. Louis for the first time in his career with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday. “I can die now,” Chacin joked to reporters.

Milwaukee (69-57) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved back ahead of St. Louis (68-57) for the second National League wild card. The Cardinals lost for just the second time in their last 12 games. The Brewers improved to 19-8 in his starts this season. The Brewers had lost six of their last eight heading into the game.

Yadier Molina started his 27th straight game, a major league record for catchers 35 years or older. 2B Kolten Wong (bruised elbow) pinch hit and flew out after being taken out of Saturday night’s game. RHP Carlos Martinez (right shoulder strain) and IF Yairo Munoz (right wrist sprain) were scheduled to play Sunday at Double-A Springfield and could join the team in Los Angeles.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: LHP Austin Gomber (3-0, 2.89 ERA) will kick off a six-game road trip Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers and LHP Alex Wood (7-7, 3.51 ERA). Gomber has won his last two starts and has an 11-inning scoreless streak.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has seen pretty much everything in 35 years of coaching. In that time, Heacock has come to view head coaches as artists charged with painting a winning picture that everyone in a program can see. Ask Heacock and the rest of the Cyclones, and they feel like they’ve finally found their maestro in third-year coach Matt Campbell. Compassionate, fiercely driven and intensely competitive, Campbell has put a program that suffered through roughly a century of mediocrity in position to win big in the Big 12 and beyond. “I think that’s what great leaders are, I think they are (artists), and I think he’s tremendous at that. … I think he believes in what he’s doing. He trusts in it,” Heacock said. “The vision that he sells for the people behind the scenes, everybody can see it.”

The school and its surprisingly rabid fan base have gone all in on Campbell, who has elevated the once-inept Cyclones with a roster of overlooked recruits he lovingly refers to as “the island of misfit toys,” according to quarterback Kyle Kempt. Those players love him back, from star running back David Montgomery to the last walk-on on the roster. That mutual respect and adoration was crucial when the Cyclones went 8-5 — and yes, 8-5 counts as a big year at Iowa State — and beat Memphis in the Liberty Bowl last December. “He’s selfless. He’s special. He’s more like a father figure than a coach. Sometimes, that’s what kids need,” Montgomery said.

The program needed more than that when Campbell, 38, first arrived from Toledo to a school long known as a coaching graveyard. For years, coaches had come to Iowa State determined to be the one who finally fixed the Cyclones. Most of them left with a pink slip and their career in tatters. The ones who didn’t — Johnny Majors, Earle Bruce and even Gene Chizik — got out of Ames as soon as they could.
Like many of his predecessors, Campbell quickly realized he didn’t have a ton to work with. His first game in 2016 was a mistake-riddled loss to Northern Iowa of the FCS. A week later, the rival Hawkeyes humiliated the Cyclones 42-3. But after that loss to Iowa, Campbell displayed perhaps the first true sign that his Iowa State tenure would be different. Instead of being upset, Campbell appeared more perplexed than anything. It was as though he couldn’t possibly fathom how a team of his could go down without a fight.

The following week, the Cyclones didn’t quit despite suffering another blowout loss to a far superior TCU. They carried that momentum home, clobbering a bad San Jose State team by 34 points for Campbell’s first win. The losing didn’t stop there, as Iowa State would drop five relatively close games in a row. But it finally all came together in November when the Cyclones, as a slight home underdog, clobbered Texas Tech 66-10. “In the second half of that (TCU) game I saw our team actually fight, and I thought that was a turning point,” Campbell said. “We came home, we won a game, and then all of a sudden our kids were starting to say: ‘You know what? Maybe we can have some success here. Maybe this thing can turn in a positive way.'”

Iowa State’s emergence as a team to watch came in 2017, when it stunned Baker Mayfield’s Sooners 38-31 on the road in the first start for Kempt, a backup quarterback. The Cyclones got their revenge on the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs three weeks later, beating them 14-7. Iowa State wound up ranked as high as 14th and finished fourth in the league a year ago. That was the best Big 12 finish in school history, a fact that’s perhaps more telling than anything of the challenge Campbell inherited. In Campbell’s view, the program’s turnaround has come in part because it’s built on a culture in which the players hold one another accountable instead of waiting for the coaches to do so. “When you become an elite-level program, 90 percent of the time it’s the players leading. Ten percent of the time the coaches are leading,” said Campbell, who was named the league’s coach of the year in 2017. “I know all these coaches across the country think we all have all the answers and the kids want to hear us. But really, they don’t. They want to hear each other.”

Campbell could’ve been the next guy to use Iowa State as a launching pad. But instead of weighing his options, Campbell sat down with athletic director Jamie Pollard for dinner and hammered out a new six-year contract worth $22.5 million just days after the regular season ended in November. New deal or not, it’s unclear what the future might hold for one of the brightest young stars in his profession. But there’s no doubt that Campbell’s focus will be solely on the Cyclones for as long as he’s their coach. “Great leaders have the ability to paint the vision and … sometimes those pictures don’t get painted very good. That’s real. He has the ability to allow you to see what his dream is, be part of it, and then he works extremely hard at it, and you in turn want to work extremely hard at it. He’s very genuine in what he does,” Heacock said. “Who you work for is a lot more important than where you work at.”

Iowa State opens its season on Sept. 1 at home against South Dakota State.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas got to celebrate twice on Saturday.

The St. Louis right-hander was all smiles early in the afternoon when his twins, Miles and Madelyn, were released from the hospital for the first time after being born prematurely a month ago.

That good feeling continued hours later as Mikolas tossed six effective innings to push the St. Louis Cardinals into the second wild-card spot in the NL with a 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

“A special day,” Mikolas said.

St. Louis moved a half-game ahead of Milwaukee and within four of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

The Cardinals, who are a half-game behind wild card-leading Philadelphia, have won 10 of their last 11 and captured their seventh straight series after winning the opener of the three-game set on Friday.

“We’re surging and we’re dangerous,” Mikolas said. “This is the time of year to get hot.”

The seven-series winning streak is the longest since the Cardinals won eight in a row from April 10-May 7, 2015.

Travis Shaw and Christian Yelich homered for the Brewers, who have lost six of eight.

Marcell Ozuna hit his 15th homer of the season in the second off Wade Miley (2-2).

Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader added two-run hits as St. Louis improved to 21-10 under interim manager Mike Shildt, who took over after Mike Matheny was fired on July 14.

When Shildt claimed the job, the Cardinals sat in fourth place in the wild-card standings, four games behind the second spot and 7 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago. They have made up plenty of ground in a relatively short amount of time.

“This is nice,” Shildt said. “If we keep playing good baseball, the process will take care of itself.”

Mikolas (13-3) gave up one run on five hits. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter in winning his fifth consecutive decision.

He said he felt motivated by the progress made by his twins. His wife, Lauren, gave birth last month, with Mikolas returning early from the All-Star festivities.

“I think it’s good to keep those happy thoughts in your head while you’re pitching,” Mikolas said. “It’s nice to have my family healthy and happy.”

Mikolas lowered his ERA to 2.80.

Miley surrendered four runs on four hits over five innings. Three of the runs were unearned thanks to a missed third strike by catcher Erik Kratz that prolonged a three-run third inning.

“It’s my fault,” Miley said. “I crossed (Kratz) up on the fastball with two outs. He put down cutter and I thought I saw fastball.”

Tyler O’Neill broke a 1-all tie with a bloop single to right following the passed ball by Kratz, which would have ended the inning. Following a walk to Ozuna, DeJong hit a two-run single to push the lead to 4-1.

DeJong had two hits and drove in three runs.

“We can beat you in a lot of different ways,” DeJong said. “That’s something we’re figuring out.”

St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter had a 35-game streak of reaching base snapped with an 0-for-4 performance.

Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell was ejected in the first inning by home plate umpire Cory Blaser. Blaser had warned Miley for throwing inside to O’Neill. Mikolas hit Lorenzo Cain in the top of the first.

Counsell came out to argue the warning and was ejected for the fourth time this season.

The Brewers have lost four of five.

“We’ve kind of got our tails kicked the last couple nights,” Miley said. “Not to put a lot of pressure on us, but we’ve got to play better baseball.”

St. Louis infielder Kolten Wong was removed in the fourth inning with a bruised right elbow. He was hit by a pickoff attempt from Miley. Shildt says he is day-to-day.

UP NEXT

RHP Jhoulys Chacin (12-4, 3.72) will face RHP John Gant (5-4, 3.74) in the final game of the three-game series on Sunday. The Brewers are 18-8 when Chacin starts. He is 0-2 with a 5.65 ERA in three career starts in St. Louis. Gant hit a two-run homer in his last outing, a 6-4 win over Washington on Tuesday.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

PREP FOOTBALL

English Valleys, North English 70, Twin Cedars, Bussey 6

H-L-V, Victor 57, Colo-NESCO 6

Iowa Valley, Marengo 62, Collins-Maxwell 16

Midland, Wyoming 50, Lone Tree 47

Southeast Warren, Liberty Center 46, Montezuma 35

Springville 52, Winfield-Mount Union 28

WACO, Wayland 25, Janesville 14

ATLANTA (AP) — Even in the preseason, Matt Ryan gets miffed about a poor showing.

He had nothing to complain about Friday.

Ryan guided the Atlanta Falcons right down the field for a touchdown on their first possession, hooking up with Austin Hooper on a 4-yard scoring pass , and led another impressive drive before calling it a night in a 28-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ryan finished 5 of 7 for 90 yards, looking very much like the quarterback who won the MVP during the 2016 season even though receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman didn’t play for the second week in a row.

It was certainly an encouraging contrast to the preseason opener, when the Falcons (0-2) were blanked 17-0 by the New York Jets and Ryan played only one brief, dismal series .

With a resting Jones watching from the sideline, Calvin Ridley got a chance to shine for the Falcons. The first-round pick from Alabama hauled in the first touchdown of his professional career on a 7-yard pass from backup quarterback Matt Schaub .

Ridley finished with three receptions for 49 yards.

Kansas City’s new starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had an up-and-down game but delivered one tantalizing pass.

Alex Smith’s replacement was intercepted on a deep throw by Falcons safety Damontae Kazee , who drifted over from the middle of the field to pick a ball intended for Sammy Watkins. Mahomes caught a break when another ill-advised throw into the end zone was dropped by Falcons cornerback Blidi Wren-Wilson, allowing the Chiefs to salvage a field goal.

But, with just 17 seconds left in the first half, Mahomes made the most of his final pass. Three Atlanta defensive backs inexplicably allowed Tyreek Hill to get behind them, and Mahomes delivered the pass in stride for a 69-yard touchdown .

The throw actually traveled 70 yards in the air — ample evidence of Mahomes’ enormous potential .

“I don’t think I’ve ever thrown one that far in a game,” said Mahomes, who finished 8 of 12 for 138 yards. “I don’t know many people that would be able to catch that ball going that far in a game. I told (Hill) if I had thrown a spiral, he wouldn’t have been able to get to it. He disagreed with that.”

Chad Henne took over for Mahomes at quarterback to begin the second half. He connected with Gehrig Dieter on a 27-yard touchdown that put the Chiefs (1-1) ahead for the first time, capping a 10-play, 76-yard drive.

Ben Niemann finished off the scoring with a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown after picking off a horrible throw by Atlanta’s third-string quarterback, undrafted rookie Kurt Benkert.

“He overthrew it and gave me a gift,” said Niemann, also an undrafted rookie.

While many Atlanta fans were still backed up in security lines outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ryan began his impressive showing by converting on third-and-11 with a 29-yard pass to Hooper.

Tevin Coleman, the other half of the Falcons’ dynamic 1-2 punch at running back, broke off a pair of 15-yard runs before Ryan rolled to his left and hit Hooper on the short scoring pass. The tight end showed impressive athleticism, hurtling into the end zone over cornerback Steven Nelson .

After the Chiefs went three-and-out, Ryan guided the Falcons deep into Kansas City territory once again. The big play was a 36-yard completion to Ridley , who beat David Amerson to haul in the pass.

On fourth-and-2 at the Chiefs 20, the Falcons passed on a field goal attempt, which was essentially irrelevant since 43-year-old kicker Matt Bryant skipped his second straight preseason game. Ryan’s pass for Ridley was broken up by Kendall Fuller, halting a seven-play, 69-yard drive.

UP NEXT

Chiefs: Hit the road again to face the Chicago Bears on Aug. 25.

Falcons: Travel to Jacksonville that same day to face the Jaguars in a matchup between 2017 playoff teams.